Recursive Loop
As trekies around the world mourn the passing of Leonard Nimoy this week, I am reminded of so many Star Trek episodes that were truly ahead of their time. Each had bits of Truth and ideals that would stay with me for all of my days. Perhaps we all have our own trouble with tribbles that we need to manage in our daily grind. Or we wonder what the Parallel Universe would be like as we hold the mirror (Mirror, Mirror) up to catch a glimpse. Indeed each of us were brought to question our own eyes this week as we looked at an overexposed dress and insisted we saw white, gold, black or blue. Reality is not a shared experience and we would do good to remember that as we move forward, or backward or sideways through space and time.
Because we can see the digital clock chip clip forward on our microwave, cell phone, cable box, laptop, tablet and any other device that bleeds electricity, we make the assumption that our journey is linear. That we leave the past behind and step into tomorrow as we move ever forward in our adventure. But what if even that concept of a collapsed event of possibility is not true? What if instead of a straight and single trajectory, that this program of Life actually folds back upon itself in some kind of cosmic burrito and we are part of a recursive loop that returns to call on itself time and again?
I realize that our mind can’t quite grasp the notion of simultaneous possibilities, but then again the word is that our ancestors didn’t see the color Blue until relatively modern times. Unless we know something exists … we may not be able to experience it. Even if it is right in front of us. Instead we filter out all of the bits and bytes that don’t have a matching data card inside our memory stack and we make up a story that is at least consistent with our experience if not actually accurate.
What this means of course … is that for most of us, for most of the time, we will go through our daze doing much of the same thing in much of the same way with much of the same outcomes for our actions. Small wonder we can feel like we are stuck in a rut. Its part of our programming. We form opinions that not only shape who we are but CREATE our future experience.
Don’t believe me? Try arguing with a middle school student. When you think you have all the answers … you will automagically filter out any data — BLUE — that doesn’t fit with your mental scheme of things. Even when something cataclysmic rocks your world and for a moment you get a glimpse through the keyhole of possibility … chances are you will soon ignore it in favor of your old ways and means —- often your mean old ways.
Why? Because its easier to believe in our own autobiography than it is to pick up a book in a completely new language and face each page with a blank stare not knowing what will happen next. Our world completely changes when we say three words … I don’t know. And in that … we can Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before….
